Friday 8 February 2013

Spring Onion Pork Burgers With An Incredibly Lazy Salad

spring onion burgers
No Horse Meat Here
I love a good burger and over the years I've found that I can make a better one than most you will find in no go fast food joints who couldn't begin to cater for a gluten free diet. It's not hard, you just need great ingredients and a bit of flavour know how. And forget the fillers guys, you really don't need any of it, trust me on this one. No eggs, no breadcrumbs, no filler, period. My burgers are 100% great ingredients, just the stuff that makes flavour.

I don't eat red meat and haven't since I was a child, pork burgers made with homemade mince are so versatile that I constantly make them over and over and each time they taste completely different if I choose to experiment. 

Some recipes are old favourites and are a given, but I choose to push it for the sake of Free From G, this here food blog. I want to come up with a new take on things and pork burgers are always a joy to play around with in the flavour stakes. Plus, they make a really great meal with minimum effort.

Here's how to make 4 really great tasting Spring Onion Burgers, 100g a pop.

pork burgers
Surprisingly Low Cal And Low Fat

Ingredients:

400g Pork Mince 
7 Spring Onions
4 Tablespoons Gluten Free Oyster Sauce (we use Chan Moon Kee)
1 Teaspoon Mirin
Good Pinch of Sea Salt

Directions:
  • Put the pork mince into a bowl or container
raw pork mince
Minced At Home
  • Prep (take the white top off and discard any wilted green stalks) the spring onions and chop into rough bits
chopped spring onions
Fragrant And Flavoursome
  • Put into a mini chopper or the like and whizz
spring onions in a mini chopper
Small Pieces
  • Add to the pork mince
pork mince spring onions
Burger Base
  • Add the oyster sauce and mirin and stir thoroughly
pork burger mix
Great Flavours
If at this point you think that the mix consistency is too wet to hold together, think again. It isn't and you'll get a much juicier burger from it. You really don't need any filler that other recipes might advise, trust, I know what I'm doing here! You'll see.
  • Preheat the grill to high and separate the burger mix roughly into 4 portions 
  • Cover a grill pan with foil and make the burger patties by hand, you'll want a 1cm thickness
  • Put the patties onto the grill pan and place under the grill
  • Cook for 10 minutes then turn and cook for another 10 minutes
  • Your Spring Onion Burgers are ready!
grilled pork burgers
Grilled To Perfection
They're all the same size even though my camera shot doesn't imply that's the case. You can of course make them bigger or smaller, your call.

cooked burger
Juices Flowing
I always used to fry my burgers but because I'm on a bit of a weight loss attempt I've been grilling them recently. I actually think that this cooking method gives better results each and every time, I'm converted. It may be slightly quicker to fry them but as you'll note from the recipe, there is no oil required at all here. I'm still giving you gluten free comfort food recipes but at a fraction of the fat and calories!

On that note, I served this with a bit of a lazy salad. Just lettuce and cucumber, but I made the most delicious dressing to go with it. 

salad
Lazy Free From G Salad
Ingredients:

3/4 Cucumber
7-8 Round Lettuce Leaves
Good Pinch Sea Salt

Dressing:

Squeeze of Fresh Lime Juice
Pinch of Fresh Grated Root Ginger
1 Teaspoon Sesame Oil
1 Teaspoon Gluten Free Oyster Sauce (Chan Moon Key for us)

Directions:
  • Peel the cucumber with a vegetable peeler
  • Use the peeler to make cucumber ribbons, when the cucumber gets down to the middle with the seeds, discard
  • Put into a bowl and salt, mix
salted cucumber
Salted Cucumber
  • Take the lettuce leaves and cut into ribbons 
  • Put the lime juice, ginger, sesame oil and oyster sauce into a bowl or container and mix
  • Pour the seeped water from the cucumber and add the lettuce
  • Pour the dressing over and mix so that everything is coated
  • Put onto serving plates
salad with dressing
Layzeee But Good
Printable Version

I'm definitely a chips girl but admit that I overindulged during the last quarter of 2012, so something had to give. I've been heavier than I am now but I've also been a lot smaller. I've experienced both sides of the coin so I know how it feels. If a lazy salad with a teeny weeny teaspoon of oil makes a difference, I'm going there. If I can live gluten free, I can live without chips. For a while.

Chips in gravy.... *Swoons*

Though writing has always been a passion, if anyone had told me when I was younger that I would become a food blogger I would have LOL'ed.  Life is strange. But so amazing.

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